


To Swim Within A Dream

by orphan_account



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-13
Updated: 2013-11-13
Packaged: 2018-01-01 08:54:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1042903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a simple story about Makoto & Haru's connection, hearing the music under the water, and a small bit of fluff / smut.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Swim Within A Dream

They had sat down to eat lunch not too long ago, and Haru noticed that Makoto seemed to be waiting as patiently as he could to speak to him about something. Finally Haru glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.  
“What is it, Makoto?” he asked evenly.  
“Um, I was going to wait until you were done eating, Haru-chan...” large green eyes smiled at him.  
“It's fine” Haru replied. Rustling noises could be heard as Makoto pulled his mp3 player out of his bag and began fiddling with it. Haru turned to put another bite in his mouth while he waited, figuring he knew what was up now. Makoto often shared songs with him, or vice versa, when they came across something they thought the other would like.  
“I think you need to hear this, Haru-chan... It reminded me of you” Makoto slipped a bud into the ear closest him, and hit play.

Haru has a bite halfway up to his mouth when a gentle stream of electronic notes trickles down his spine. His immediate reaction is to think of the happy noise of a little bubbling brook, but in techno form. A beat builds in the background that he doesn't really notice until it culminates and takes over prominence in the song. Haru's eyes flutter closed as in his mind, the stream flows into a larger body of water, and he's diving into the crisp, cool water for the first time. Then the intensity shifts, and now he's slicing through the straight and narrow of his pool lane, focused and yet at wholly at peace. 

Mako sees his reaction and reaches over with a pleased expression, placing the other bud in his friend's ear too. 

Haru can practically feel the tingle in his fingers as they do battle with the water's deceptive friction, and he's winning. The water surrenders, and he notices that the feeling of being immersed, swirling along with the electronic beat, gets stronger, but he doesn't register why. The beat is both building and giving way again, in alternating fashion, and he's consumed. 

Haru floats, pulled along and cutting through the musically induced ocean behind his eyes.

Suddenly the song diminishes and holds it's breath, the ocean and Haru along with it as they all wait to see what's coming. Then a heavily synthesized voice breaks through the silence without words, just tonal expressions rolling over and through him … almost, sensually … The image of breaking through the water's surface, and finding Makoto's outstretched hand waiting for him, fills his vision. 

Haru's cheeks flush, and he can feel his heart rate tick upward, but he doesn't open his eyes yet. The song isn't over.

When the tumbling perfection of notes comes back in behind the voice, Makoto is there with him in the water now. He can't always see him as the currents twist around them, but he can feel his presence. Though the synthesized inflection gives away that it's feminine in nature, Haru can picture nothing but Makoto's eyes as the not-quite-longing voice plays out in a halted yet rhythmic serenade.   
As the echos of the song thrum in his veins, he can feel the gentle vocalizations settling into his bones. He knows the changing pulse of the water is the same as with this song, and he wonders if Makoto is closer to the water than he lets on, to have noticed it... Beams of light illuminate the sea around him as the notes trail off, falling through it in stripes that reveal Makoto's smile while they reach out for each other under the water. 

Makoto circles him, graceful and strong, and Haru circles Makoto. He can't tell if they're both floating to the surface, or sinking to oblivion. He doesn't think he cares. 

When the song is done, well and truly done, Haru opens his eyes slowly, as if they're sticky and it's difficult, but he's still trying. He takes out the ear buds and slowly places them in Makoto's palm, not having realized he was holding his hand. Before the larger boy can ask him how he liked it, Haru gives him a look from under his eyelids that is bare and more raw than he meant it to be.   
Thank you.  
His eyes say what the constriction in his throat won't let out. Being hit with it like that, Makoto's eyes widen, and he says Haru's name with an emotional disbelief that makes up for his friend's lack of ability.

“ … Haru … ”

Haru feels a blush creeping up his face, but there's nothing he can do to stop it, so he turns back to his food. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Makoto giving him that warm smile that he is beginning to think means “I love you.” It's several seconds before Haru can compose himself enough to mumble,   
“It reminds me of the water … and you.”

Over the next few days, Haru watches his best friend more closely than normal. Not that he really watches much else but Makoto and the water anyway, but now he's not just looking at them separately. Haru watches them interact with curiosity. He sees how the water parts for his lengthy body when Makoto dives in at practice. Waves from Makoto's backstroke brush against Haru as he floats in the next lane, and it feels strangely intimate. The spray that comes from Makoto's fingers as the others splash around after practice is particularly interesting. 

He wonders what Makoto hears when he dangles his legs in the water while waiting for Haru to get out. 

Haru has always heard it, felt things he didn't know how to put into words, things he couldn't explain, when he was under the water. It made him feel different (not better, but just different) than all the people around him who couldn't understand it. The water was alive, part of him, and yet an opposite that complimented him well. The ocean was never quiet, and you couldn't tell what was going on beneath it by looking at the surface. Though, truthfully, Makoto was the only one who laid claim to the ability to read him like that...  
Haru swam up to where a pair of powerful legs were swishing in the water like a little kid, and rose, gasping for air. He hoped the flush of exercise covered the effect seeing Mako rise and offer him his hand had on Haru. Electronica hummed through his brain as their hands grasped one another, and he was lifted from the wet embrace as if he were weightless.   
“Good work today, Haru” Makoto's smile was hugging him, even if his arms weren't. Everyone else has already left, so their guards are down a little more than usual. 

Haru thinks about how he knows Makoto has sensed something in the water before, but that he'd feared it, rather than embraced it. 

They shower in the locker room, and Haru has half a mind to pull Makoto back into the pool with him. He suddenly needs to know very badly if this connection with the water is something he can share now with Mako, or if he's still afraid.  
“Makoto, spend the night at my house” he says, not quite an order, but with no room for argument.  
“Hai, Haru-chan, of course” Makoto seems very pleased to be bossed around in such a manner, and Haru just nods his head. It's Friday, so it's ok.

They shouldn't have showered. Haru needed no excuse to take multiple baths a day, but he wanted a situation in the water he could share with Makoto. This was proving difficult since they were both already clean. He thought about pushing him down in the mud, but he didn't want to be rude... Maybe something would come to him after dinner. They did a little homework, because Makoto was responsible like that, and then played video games for a couple of hours.

Good things come to those who wait.

Haru decided it was of pressing importance that they do the dishes. Granted, it wasn't perfect, but getting to put both their hands together in the same sink full of water was better than nothing. Total immersion would have been best, but now that he thought about it, there was no possibility that both of them would have fit in the tub together anyway...

Makoto gives him a tilted head, slightly quizzical, but says “sure”, when Haru asks for his help with washing the 3 plates, 2 cups, and handful of utensils that have built up on the counter. Running the water, Haru adds a little soap, but doesn't put in any dishes yet. 

The closer Makoto's proximity, the bigger his smile gets as he heads over. Somehow Haru can tell it's not for his closeness to the water. Maybe it's because of the way Makoto's gaze is on him and not the slow churn of bubbles.

“Give me your hand” Haru holds out his own expectantly, not looking at him, and Makoto just complies like there's nothing strange about the way Haru laces their fingers together once he's pulled them under the water. Makoto does, however, say quietly,  
“Are you ok, Haru-chan?” with his eyebrows knit together in a mirthful expression. Haru huffs a bit, sighing, and looks up at him with a frown.  
“What do you hear, Makoto? In the water?” he asks point blank. Makoto's eyes widen a bit, and Haru squeezes his hand to make sure he doesn't remove it. 

“Haruka … Why are you asking me this?” Makoto looks kind and thoughtful when he speaks, but it feels like a temporary appearance, a thin layer of snow that only makes the ground appear white, but will melt soon afterward.

“Because... Because of that song... I just,” Haru had to pause, to find words to explain his thought process, but Makoto did an uncharacteristic thing, and interrupted him.  
“I figured as much, Haru, but what I mean is, why do you suddenly care what I hear?”

That actually kind of hurt a bit, for Makoto to accuse him of something he knew Haru struggled with so often, being seen as 'uncaring'. Warm fingers brushed over Haru's forehead, moving his bangs out of his eyes. The concern written in Makoto's face took all of the sting out of his words though. Haru sighed again.  
“I just hoped, after hearing it, that maybe you heard the same thing I do too now, being under the water … The connection … So, if you did...it would connect us … ” Haru's words failed him again, but thankfully, it was Makoto, and everything he'd left out between the lines was understood completely. 

Some day, years from now, Haru will look back on this and smack himself in the head for not remembering Makoto's ability to cut right to the heart of things that Haru was only muddling along in.

“Haru … I don't need the water between to connect us... Don't you think it would be better...to just, go right to each other?” his voice sounded like their conversation was balanced so delicately that even a sound wave of too much strength would topple it.  
“Oh” Haru stared at the spot where their hands disappeared into the water while he tried to wrap his head around the implication Makoto had just made.  
“I told you, didn't I?” Makoto squeezed Haru's hand under the water now, his heart beating a thousand times a minute, “That the song reminded me of you? Not of the water, Haru, of you” he reiterated. Haru's chest began expanding rapidly, and was in danger of bursting altogether. His body just sort of tried to close the gap between Makoto's and his on it's own, since it was receiving no feedback from his brain. A slosh of water went over the floor as he pulled their hands out of the sink and awkwardly turned to face his best friend at the same time Makoto did. The corners of their lips brushed as they clumsily got closer, and the contact seemed to jolt both of them. It was like slipping and falling in the waves when you were trying to get into the ocean anyway. 

Makoto recovered first, and made it purposeful, if still a little hesitant. Haru closed his eyes and let Makoto wash over him, his entire existence boiled down to a few square inches of skin below their noses. Who would have ever thought he'd be the one to drag Haru into the depths...

They had kissed a few times as kids, but this was different. Makoto's arm went securely behind Haru's waist, holding him close and pulling him ever so slightly upward. This was completely different... 

Haru felt light and almost like he was floating, glad Makoto held him firmly. A tongue slid gently over Haru's bottom lip in the midst of the kiss, and he fisted the back of Makoto's shirt with his free hand, feeling dizzy. After a few moments of Makoto's tongue slowly rubbing over his own, Haru's insides began to tingle. And it only kept spreading, until his whole body felt weak and shaky. It was a little frightening, to be honest, but the fact that it was Makoto making him react this way helped him to bear it.

Makoto was extremely pleased to find that even like this, he could still read Haru like and open book.

Pulling back from the kiss before the blue eyed boy was completely overwhelmed, Makoto tucked Haru's head against his chest and held him for a moment.

“You put your tongue in my mouth” Haru said, as if to recap what had happened. Makoto smiled into Haru's hair and chuckled a little.  
“When you melted against me like that, I took it for a yes” he informed him. Large fingers played with the hair on the nape of Haru's neck. Burying his face more deeply into Makoto's chest, Haru took a slow breath filled with his smell, and didn't contest the claim.

Two weeks later, Haru was adjusting to the feeling of being filled for the first time, his head thrown to the side, eyes closed, and breath gasping. Makoto prepared and pushed him with a firm force that Haru had not expected. He must have wanted this for a very long time. His best friend hardly ever took anything for himself, but he seemed to have no problem doing it now. Not when the thing he was taking was Haru.   
As the pleasure of Makoto's movements began to wash over him, Haru's mouth fell open, and he tossed his head to the other side, his face screwed up with pleasure. Lost in the intensity and chaos of his first time, Haru simply held on tightly to Makoto's shoulders while being penetrated again and again. His moans suddenly took on a new pitch as the force of Makoto's stroke brushed his most delicate parts. Large, warm hands moved to cup either side of his face, bringing him up to look directly into Makoto's eyes.   
“Haru, I want you to look at me when you cum” Makoto whispered, possessing him completely in that moment. Haru wasn't just immersed, he was drowning in a green sea, and loved every moment of it. His orgasm built quickly, and as he came with Makoto's unwavering gaze only inches from his, he just, he couldn't... All control slipped out of his grasp, and he cried out almost animalistically, tears streaming down from the corners of his eyes as he dared not look away from Makoto's enraptured face.

If he lived to 110, and forgot all else, Makoto would always remember seeing Haru like that.

**Author's Note:**

> For any who care to hear, it's called "A Dream Within A Dream", by The Glitch Mob. Unbeta'd, so sorry for any errors, gomen.


End file.
